Three Central Kentucky aviators received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award on March 20. After a chili dinner at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, the three pilots were honored by the Federal Aviation Administration for continuous involvement in aviation for 50 years or more.

Award winners were Dr. George Gumbert, a co-founder of the Aviation Museum of Kentucky; Ed LaFontaine, a balloonist and former director of state aviation; and Lowell Wiley, a retired corporate pilot and flight instructor.

LYSA league receives grant

The Lexington Youth Soccer Association TOPSoccer league has been awarded a US Youth Soccer Association grant. The in-kind grant will provide soccer equipment for the league's athletes, including balls and goal keeper's jerseys. It is thought to be the first grant awarded to LYSA in its 30-plus-year history.

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TOPSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) was created by the United States Youth Soccer Association for children ages 4 and older with physical and/or mental disabilities. For more information about this and other LYSA TOPSoccer events or to register, call Jessie Birdwhistle at (859) 608-4160. The cost for participation is $25 a player.

Non-profits get financial help

More than $108,000 has been awarded to 33 non-profits in Central and Eastern Kentucky through the Blue Grass CARE Fund at the Blue Grass Community Foundation.

Created last year in response to the increase in requests for aid, the fund continued this year because of double-digit increases in requests for assistance for food, shelter, and clothing. Funding partners included Blue Grass Community Foundation, Bluegrass Women United, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, the Keeneland Foundation, PNC Bank, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and many individual donors.

The distribution committee reviewed more than 75 applications. The committee's goal was to distribute the money to organizations that could have the most immediate impact in the community.

"This grant will allow us to continue to provide a three-to five-day supply of emergency food to those with nowhere else to turn," said Betty Moore of the Jackson County Food Bank in McKee. "Last year, we served over 7,000 individuals, and this year we expect to serve many more, since the county's largest employer has laid off over 15 percent of its workers. We count on grants like this to get us through."